In one of the most striking demonstrations of the phrase "that was fast," a Twitter user known as Longhorn published an image of Windows 10 Cloud running Win32 applications. Last Monday it was confirmed that this special edition of Windows 10 limits compatibility to universal apps, but after some experiments, Longhorn discovered that the modules required for Win32 software were not removed, but simply disabled.
Microsoft has several reasons for launching a version of Windows 10 like Cloud. Recently we mentioned one of the most important, which is competing with Chromebooks, increasingly popular among users. But ignoring the security factor would be foolish. By limiting compatibility to software from its store, Microsoft tries to offer (or rather guarantee) that the code of those apps is clean, and at the same time prevent direct execution of malware through other routes. Of course, that strategy is not perfect, since some developers have found ways to filter malicious code into other official stores, but if Cloud is truly a variant designed for users seeking a stable environment who don't want to fight infections, antivirus signatures, and similar details, Microsoft must start there. Now, how much of Win32 did Redmond actually remove from Windows 10 Cloud?
Based on the results of Twitter user Longhorn... zero. During his experiments, Longhorn determined that advanced tools like the Registry editor, PowerShell, and CMD were effectively blocked, however... they forgot Bash. With the help of that shell, Longhorn was able to disable several of the restrictions imposed by UMCI (User Mode Code Integrity) by enabling testsigning mode. In one of the images you can see Google Chrome accompanied by the Desktop App Converter, with an extra window indicating the Windows version.
On his official blog he also published another image with nothing less than Wine, and the Registry editor open. That is... Regedit, through Wine, on Windows Subsystem for Linux, on Windows 10 Cloud. According to Longhorn, this edition stands alongside Windows 10 Pro with UMCI set to maximum. Once UMCI falls, the experience is more or less "classic," so to speak. Anyway, I think Longhorn's effort benefits Microsoft. If they want to close Windows 10 Cloud properly, they have their hands full.
